Well 5 Pump Test Complete, Water District to Release Results This Week

The Crescenta Valley Water District concluded its five day pump test of Well 5 this morning, Feb. 14, 2011. The pump test was approved and funded by the CVWD and the results will reveal what the levels of toxic MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether) are in the well’s water. The CVWD Board of Directors will review the results in a closed session on Tuesday before releasing the numbers to the public.

Well 5 is on the corner of Mills Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue in La Crescenta. It was shut down in September 2008 after high levels of MTBE were found in the well’s water.

If the pump test shows that the MTBE level is below the state limit of 13ppb (parts per billion), the board will have to decide whether to submit a request to the California Department of Public Health to put the well back into service, said Christy Scott, a CVWD spokesperson. Putting the well back into use would not be immediate, but it would happen in the “relatively near future,” said Scott.

If the pump test shows that MTBE limits are above the state limit, the CVWD may continue with its original plan: building a water treatment facility at Well 5. The CVWD was approved for a $1.1 million state grant to build the facility.

But, "that doesn’t mean there won’t be discussions with the neighborhood," said Scott.

Construction of the water treatment facility was postponed after the state demanded more evidence that a testing facility was actually needed at that site. Residents who live near Well 5 also voiced concern over a water treatment facility being built in their neighborhood.

So the CVWD approved the five-day pump test.

Well 5 is one of CVWD’s best-producing wells, said Scott. If Well 5 were to be opened, it would potentially allow the CVWD to pump its full adjudication of water for the year, said Scott. This would save the CVWD money and the residents money because less imported water would have to be purchased, said Scott. Currently, the CVWD buys about one third of its water for the 38,000 residents it serves from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

“The thing about a well is like buying a house, you own the facility,” said Patrick Hayes, Principal Civil Engineer for the GWP, during a Crescenta Valley Community Association meeting. 

“Buying water from Metro, it’s like renting. A lot of what drives the price of water is the importing of water. Having a local supply is much better choice,” said Hayes.

The CVWD approved a water rate hike for customers in November 2010. The Board of Directors cited an increased water rate from MWD as one of the deciding factors to approve the hike.

The water from Well 5 would likely stay in nothern Glendale.

MTBE is a chemical that was added to U.S. gasoline beginning in 1979. After the Clean Air Act of 1990 was passed, oil companies started adding higher levels of MTBE to gas. MTBE adds oxygen to gas, which in turn helps it burn more efficiently and reduces emissions. MTBE was banned in California in 2003.

MTBE is a potentially harmful chemical to humans when ingested, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. It is thought to have entered water supplies after gasoline seeped into the ground, either through underground gas tanks or fuel spills.

Even though the state limit is 13ppb, MTBE levels of 3ppb raise a flag, according to Scott. Well 5’s MTBE levels peaked at 67ppb in October of 2009, according to Dave Gould, CVWD Engineer.

MTBE is not stagnant. Plumes of MTBE are able to travel, especially downhill, said Gould.

Well 5 is not the only well in our area to be affected by MTBE. The CVWD shut down Well 7 in 2006-2007, said Scott.

Gould said that the CVWD has taken legal action against oil companies who added MTBE to gasoline.